The scammer calls you, claiming to be a bank employee who says your online banking has been hacked. The person will also provide you with an employee number. The scammer will ask you to run a software program, which is a virus designed to give them access to your computer. Then, they’ll ask you to log into your online banking and have remote access to your computer.

Your bank account will show two fraudulent charges on your credit card. Usually, the first is for EBay and the second is for Google Play cards. The scammer pretends to call Google on your behalf and says you need to buy Google Play cards at a certain location to make up the difference.

This type of behaviour — the scammer transferring money to your account and asking you to buy gift cards and send photos of the codes — will continue until they can’t convince you to do it anymore, police said.

“Scammers do this for a living,” EPS Det. Linda Herczeg explained.

“This is their livelihood, so they spend all of their time building an elaborate and believable scheme. They use a real bank’s identity, including an employee number, to legitimize their story. Anyone can fall victim to these scams.”

Due to public access to information and images on the internet, scammers are easily impersonating businesses and/or their employees, police said.

If you have been a victim of fraud, please report to police at 780-423-4567 or come into a police station. To report a fraud, please contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.